Friday, July 30, 2010

This is one of those times that I really wish I could write like my friend Jenny Matlock. I just know that if she were to write this you would be rolling on the floor laughing by the time you were done reading. As it is, I have a feeling you may chuckle, but you will probably just feel sorry for me.

You know how I mentioned earlier this week that I killed my modem? I just didn’t tell you how I did it. I had to have a conversation with my daughter (who still loves me) before I made a full public disclosure. Monday started out as a normal day. I decided to make some changes in my daughter’s room. So, first I decided to dust the 2 small shelves which held her favorite things. I moved a special snow globe to the desk below the shelves to get it out of the way and I made a mental note not to touch her metal tree which holds her Christopher Radko ornament collection (did you just get a chill). As I moved something on the shelf, it barely touched the base of the Radko tree. The tree fell onto the desk, breaking the snow globe into my modem and sending a rainbow of Radko glass shards all over the room. I did what any mature woman would do at that point. I started wailing like a baby, ran from the room, called my husband and went to bed.

We have been buying her Radko ornaments for 9 years. We try to find one that has a connection to something special in our family for the year. In that moment, I thought we’d lost them all. When my husband got here and we actually braved the room, we found we had only lost 3 of them. Her first was very special, it was the 9/11 ornament. I was able to find one on Ebay and it is ordered.

Our second lost ornament was from the year she was obsessed with VW Bugs. She just knew she was going to buy one, so we found a turquoise Radko Love Bug for her. I couldn’t find another turquoise one, but I did find a purple one on Ebay and it arrived yesterday.

The third broken Radko I can’t find anywhere. It is a Limited Edition Mickey Mouse from 2005. There were only 750 made and obviously no one is selling theirs yet. He is intact but he lost his nose. It makes me sick, but if we are only out one of them…we are all okay that it is this one. I haven’t been able to find a replacement snow globe either, but I’ll keep looking.

My crime didn’t go unpunished. When my new modem arrived on Wednesday, I plugged it in and called my internet provider to activate it. He had me plug the Ethernet cord from the modem into my laptop (Dell Inspiron 1525) so he could secure the connection. My computer crashed immediately. After spending 2 hours yesterday on the phone with some guy in India (for only $59 since my 2 year old computer was out of warranty) it was determined that the hard drive crashed. They would try to help me get my data off the hard drive for another $210 if I wanted them to, I hung up. I packed up the computer and headed to my local computer shop. They are going to pull the info off hopefully, for $40. The tech and I made a deal and he bought my computer for $100. He also informed me that it is not at all uncommon for the Dell Inspiron computers to have a hard drive crash…hmm, now they tell me.

I am now the proud owner of a Toshiba Satellite with Windows 7 instead of the Vista I’m used to. The keyboard feels strange, but I’ll get used to it. It has a 17" screen, love that! Did I mention that I also broke a tooth this week and had to go to the dentist? Oh, and Tuesday I woke up with a pulled a muscle in my neck and have been on the heating pad all week. You know you are getting old when you injure yourself sleeping.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

I am writing this sitting in my garage (it is hot) so that I can "borrow" an internet connection from someone in the neighborhood. I took my computer somewhere last night and left the power cord in my husband's car, so I'm stuck with the cord that plugs into the lighter in my car...is this dedication to my blog or what? Yesterday, I couldn't get online at all...I hope that new modem shows up soon!

I’ve been going through some of my pictures from my weeks in Florida and I realized that there are a few I want to share, but they don’t really deserve a blog post of their own. For example there was the view from our balcony at the Orlando Renaissance Hotel. We were so close to Sea World that we not only watched the 4th of July Fireworks in our jammies, we could hear the music and the announcer.

Of course the night before, we watched the 4th Fireworks Spectacular over the Magic Kingdom from the rooftop of Disney’s Wilderness Lodge Hotel. That is what we call a perk of having a daughter who works for Disney. There were about 12 of us on the rooftop, no crowds, no screaming kids and a breathtaking view.

There was the picture I took of my husband’s sandwich at a little Cuban restaurant in Winter Park, FL. It was a Cuban hamburger. A hamburger patty topped with ham, bacon, cheese, lettuce, tomato and a FRIED EGG! He loved it, but can you imagine if I’d made this for him at home? You think he would have eaten this? Talk about a heart attack in a sandwich!

I also just had to show you a few more pictures that I found in my mother’s things. The first photo is of my mother’s parents. I never knew my grandfather with hair, or my grandmother with dark hair. Isn’t this just the perfect 20’s photo?

I also found this photo of my mother and her older sister. What was so exciting about finding this photo, is that mom’s sister was always a mystery to us. She died when she was 6 as a result of having her tonsils out. The only thing I know is that the hospital gave her too much ether and killed her. My grandparents never mentioned her and my mom was only 4 when she died and had very little memory of her.

I’ll leave you with a little bit of table top. This is the table that is behind our loveseat. It is the frame in the middle that is special to me. When my mom was first sick, my husband brought it home as a surprise one evening. The Jim Croce song was special to us when we were dating, the beach theme is perfect for my house and yes, that is a picture of us when we were dating. He had hair and I was blonde, we’ve come a long way baby!

Monday, July 26, 2010

I had a slight accident while cleaning today and my modem got wet...and quit working. I called and the way it is handled now is they mail you a new one...in 7 to 10 business days! They wouldn't let me pay to have it shipped overnight. So, at the moment I am "borrowing" an internet connection from someone in the neighborhood. I hope to continue to do this for a few days...but, I may not be around as much as I want to be. I didn't want anyone to think I was ignoring them!

It is funny how things work out sometimes. Something happens that you just can't explain and truthfully, I'm not sure I even want an explanation. I sort of like letting my imagination run wild with this one. As most of you know, I spent a few weeks recently in Florida, going through my mother's belongings. Actually, I didn't just go through her things, I went through almost everything in their home, organizing in ways that would be easier for my dad.

Late one evening I was going through a drawer full of paperwork, envelopes and various "stuff". In the midst of saved banking information, medical paperwork and bookwork...I found my parent's wedding pictures. I have a copy of one of their wedding pictures at my house, but I'd never seen the rest of the pictures. I grabbed my camera and took "pictures of the pictures" so I would have a set of them safely stored somewhere. I sat them aside and finished the drawer. About an hour later, when I was working on a different drawer, from a different place in the house...I found an envelope of old pictures and clippings. In that envelope was the newspaper announcement from my parent's wedding. Coincidence? I don't know.

The best part of this story is that when I called my dad into the room to see what I'd found the look on his face was priceless. He thought the wedding pictures had been lost when a prior home had flooded. He didn't think he still had any of his wedding pictures and he had them all. What a blessing for all of us. Thankfully, I looked in every envelope at every item before throwing anything away.

Friday, July 23, 2010

I haven't been cooking much lately, but I decided it was time to try a few new recipes. I had torn out a recipe for Reuben Pie from a magazine quite some time ago. After reading it, I knew I would make a few adjustments of my own before trying it. It was a huge success at my house. We loved it!

The ingredients are fairly simple and affordable.

What I love about this was how quickly it went together.

Ingredients

Crust:

1 1/3 cup crushed Triscuit Crackers (I used regular Triscuits, rye would be also be good)

1 T. flour

3 T. butter, melted

Combine and press into bottom of a 9" pie plate or tart pan. Bake 10 minutes at 375 degrees.

Filling:

2 cups shredded Swiss cheese

2-2 oz. packages deli style corned beef, sliced into strips

1/2 cup sauerkraut, rinsed and well drained

4 eggs

1 cup half and half

1 T. flour

1/2 tsp. dry mustard

1/4 tsp. salt

Remove crust from the oven and top with 1/2 of the cheese, the corned beef, sauerkraut and remaining cheese. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs, cream, flour, mustard and salt and gently pour over the assembled "pie". Bake in a 375 oven for 30-35 minutes, until the top is brown and a knife inserted comes out clean. Slice into wedges and serve with fruit or a green salad.

Is there anything better than freshly grated Swiss cheese?

The finished pie is cheesey, chewy and very good. I also think I would like it with a little 1000 Island Dressing served on the side to drizzle over the top for that authentic Reuben Sandwich taste.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

It was October 8th, 2009 when I first took the leap and decided to participate in Tablescape Thursday and I haven't missed many weeks since. It never crossed my mind when I started my blog last August, that I would be setting tables and taking pictures of them for my blog...or that I would have such a good time doing it! I really need to thank Susan @ Between Naps on the Porch for reminding me of my love for dishes, pretty things and entertaining. Today, she celebrates her 100th Tablescape Thursday and I hope you will visit her to join in the festivities.

Today's table is devoted to the dragonfly. I have a dragonfly fountain in my backyard, dragonfly metal art in the garden...it was time to bring the darling dragonfly into my house.

I even found matches with dragonflies to light the candles!

I started the place setting with a round green placemat that pulls out the green in the trim of the dessert plates. I used my white American Atelier Bianca Leaf Square dinner plates, bargain flatware in a metallic slate and my new PS Portmeirion Studio dragonfly dessert plates...all from HomeGoods. The napkins are white with green trim and were my mother's. The napkin rings are from Crate and Barrel.

In the center of the table, I draped one of my mom's scarves. The colors and the metallic threads added just a pop of sparkle to the table. I used sterling candlesticks (a wedding present) and a silver bowl (mom's) full of lemons to add some additional shine and color. The cute little "shot glass" candles I bought in Franklin, TN on our way home from Florida. At $8.50 each, I probably spent too much, but I couldn't resist the Citrus Cilantro scent.

Because I wasn't using fresh flowers on this table, I added a touch of color with this sparkly, beaded flower bouquet.